Late Inning Woes Hand Riverside Loss in Super Regional Opener

A strong outing by sophomore ace Garret Irvin was spoiled by the No. 8 seeded Mt. San Antonio College Mounties in the first game of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Super Regional round. Despite the No. 3 seeded Tigers holding a one-run advantage entering into the top of the ninth, five unanswered runs from the Mounties tagged Riverside with the game one loss.

Riverside got off to a strong start by plating three runs in the bottom of the third inning. Two-consecutive RBI doubles from freshman catcher Steve Ramirez and sophomore Andrew Talkington set the tone to start the game.

Irvin, who was coming off a complete game shutout victory in the first game of the regional round against Cuesta, picked up right where he left off by retiring the opening six batters. He continued on to blank the Mounties through the first five innings.

In the top of the fifth inning, Mt. SAC strung together a two-out rally and  slap a pair of runs on the scoreboard. RIverside remedied the damage with an RBI single from sophomore outfielder Junior Coleman in the bottom half of the inning, plating sophomore left fielder Joseph Hodapp, to bring the score to 4-2.

Despite the lead, the Mounties plated five unanswered runs in the following two frames thus handing the Tigers a game-one loss by the final score of 8-4.

Sophomore right fielder Ulises Caballero went 4-for-5 with a run scored, while freshman second baseman Alex Moreno, Hodapp, Ramirez, and Coleman all barreled a pair of hits.

Sophomore Lawrence Castaneda was credited with the loss and a blown save after allowing four runs on four hits in just two thirds of work.

Riverside (32-11, 15-6 OEC, 2-1 Playoffs) will look to stay alive in game two on Friday, May 10 at home at 2 p.m., pending weather. Stay utned to www.rccathletics.com for all information.